The Girl in the Tree House
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day three hundred and eighty-two: Shelby's dealings with her neighbors only become more involved when she meets Joanie.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 18th cycle. Now cycle 19!_

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**"The Girl in the Tree House"  
Shelby & Beth, Emmett & Joanie Tepley **

The first few days after the move, beyond constant unpacking and fixing, weren't much to talk about. She tried not to overdo it, since Beth would need her to take care of her… She'd known how it was going to be, taking on single motherhood by choice. But that was alright; she was more than ready to provide singlehandedly for that little girl. Now she just needed her neighbor to catch on to that.

Emmett Tepley had helped her assemble Beth's crib. And since then, it was as though she could always see him out there, offering to do something else. She was sure it was all meant to be sweet and neighbourly of him; he'd made that point to her the first time. But he wasn't grasping the point that she wanted to do it on her own. Every time, it would go the same way. She'd come out back to add newly emptied boxes to the stack, he'd be in his yard, he'd ask how things were going, she'd tell him, and then he'd tell her he was getting his tools and he'd be right there. She didn't get much time to explain and he'd be there, helping. As much as she wanted to complain, it did feel good to see something assembled, ready to be furnished. The bookshelves going up meant a load of boxes she could empty, same with the CD shelves… So then she'd take the empty boxes down to the stack… and thus the cycle would repeat. As frustrated as she got, she could never bring herself to say anything to his face, she couldn't explain it, just something there…

After her latest batch of empties were taken apart and ready to be taken out to the stack, she'd gone out back to put them away. She fully expected to have 'Handy Emmy' call out to her once again, but she didn't. The fact that she expected it, almost felt disappointed that he wasn't there, caught her off-guard. She tried to shake it off.

"Hi," she heard a voice from… well, she wasn't sure where. There was a girl's laugh. "Up here!" the voice directed her, and Shelby squinted against the sun, taking a step or two so she could see better. Finally the voice revealed itself to belong to a girl sitting perched up in the Tepley tree house.

"Hi," Shelby called back. "Joanie, right?" she asked, and the girl nodded. "I'm Shelby," she introduced herself.

"I know," Joanie smiled. "My dad told me."

"I'm sure he did," Shelby replied to herself before calling out again. "Well it's nice to meet you." Even from far away she could tell Joanie had those same soft blue eyes that Emmett had.

"Oh, I've got something for you!" Joanie remembered, moving to stand, then turning back again. "Wait there, okay?" she asked.

"You got it," Shelby promised with a nod, and she watched the girl disappear down the side of the tree before rushing back into the house. Shelby got back to her stack as she waited. She checked the baby monitor at her belt – all clear. A minute later, she heard the fence open and she turned to find Joanie coming over with a bag in hand. Shelby was right, she did have her dad's eyes.

"Hi," the girl reintroduced herself with a wave. "My dad told me you had a baby, and I thought that she might like these," she pulled the bag back to show Shelby the contents: a stack of thin books. "These were the ones that made me happy, helped me sleep…" she indicated them. "They might come in handy," she smiled. Shelby returned it. She had to say, the Tepleys were a helping duo.

"That is very sweet, thank you," she bowed her head. Just then, the baby monitor rang out with Beth's cries. "I, uh… you want to come say hi?" she found herself offering.

"Can I?" Joanie lit up. Shelby smirked, guiding her into the house and up to the nursery. Shelby put the bag down by the door before moving to pick up the crying girl, rubbing her back.

"It's okay, it's alright," she hushed, checking her over. She watched as Joanie crouched and pulled out one of the books, holding it out to Shelby with a nod. "Hey, want to hear a story?" she smiled, giving a wink to Joanie as she took the book and went to sit with Beth. Joanie came to sit by her side, looking at the baby with a smile. She sat by, smiling with memories as Shelby read. By the end of the story, Beth had calmed and fallen to sleep. "Worked like you said," Shelby complimented, indicating the book.

"Can I hold her?" Joanie whispered. "I won't wake her," she promised. Shelby looked to Beth, asleep in her arms, and she stood, indicating for Joanie to take her place. Once she was seated, Shelby carefully handed off the baby, making sure she supported her right. Even if Beth was asleep, Joanie seemed happy just to be holding her. Eventually she let Shelby take her back and put her in the crib before signalling they should go back downstairs.

"Thanks for the books, Joanie. I really appreciated them, and I'm sure Beth will, too." The girl looked pleased at this. Then…

"My dad's been coming to help a lot," she spoke, and before Shelby could go on, "I think he wants to help because he was alone, too," she revealed, catching Shelby off guard. "He and my mom split up when I was a baby, and she went away…" she trailed off.

"I thought he said you were with her…" Shelby blinked, confused.

"Well, she came back, a couple years ago. I have to go be with her sometimes," Joanie shrugged, which told Shelby the rest of that explanation was that the girl didn't like being made to go. "Anyway, I think he relates, that's why…" she paused. "I should go. Don't tell him I told you this, okay?"

"Sure, no problem," Shelby promised. "Hey, you come by when you want, alright? Door's always open." The girl smiled and ran off. Shelby watched her go with a sigh… So much for going it alone.

THE END

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**_[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]_**


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